To Take a Life
by ladyanaconda
Summary: La Muerte's fondness of children and babies is no secret to anyone, but when she learns of the horrible practice known as 'abort' she reflects on her baby and her wellbeing, wondering how can a woman be so cruel. Luckily, Xibalba and her baby are there for her.


**Note: This one takes place in both ToDaJ and WCHB AUs.**

* * *

As the was awakened by the gentle sunlight filtering through the window, the first thing La Muerte noticed was that Xibalba was not in bed anymore. As she stirred awake, she placed a hand on her five-month baby bump, gently stroking it with a warm smile drawn on her lips. " _Buenos días_ , _mi bebé_. Did you sleep well?" Though the baby's kicks were still a bit faint, she could feel her child dreamily floating inside her womb, shifting and trying to find a comfortable position to continue sleeping. She could feel her little heartbeat, and counted the days for her to come into the world so she could hold and love her.

The door gently opened, and La Muerte lifted her gaze to find her husband walking towards her, carrying a tray with pancakes with whipped cream and orange juice for her. She couldn't help but giggle. "Ay, Balby."

"What? I'm just pleasing the baby." Xibalba chuckled, carefully placing the tray on his wife's lap while sitting down next to her in bed. "How's he doing, by the way?"

"Napping." La Muerte gently rubbed her stomach.

"Awww, look at you!" the dark god leaned his face closer to his wife's belly, and stroked the baby bump as if he were a dragon cherishing his hoard. "You're such a _cosita_! I can't wait to meet you!"

She giggled, before she felt something moving inside. "She moved."

Xibalba tried to find the source of the movement with his hand, but sensed nothing. "I don't feel anything."

"She's still a bit too small to give strong kicks. Toci said in a few more weeks she'll be kicking nonstop."

"I can't wait for that…" Xibalba cut a slice from the pancakes and held it up to his wife's lips. "Open wide!"

La Muerte didn't protest as her husband fed her, all the while the two chatted about the baby, mostly discussing on the gender. Xibalba didn't understand how she was so certain that the baby would be a _niña_ , she claimed it was 'mother's intuition', so he guessed there was no better logic than that. Over the course of the meal, the little one shifted inside her mother's tummy and gave little, faint kicks to let her parents know she was happy. Soon, however, there was a knock on the door.

"Milady, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting, but…"

Xibalba quickly wrapped a wing around La Muerte as a servant came in. "What?" he snapped, pulling his wife and unborn child closer to him.

As always, the servant got nervous when Xibalba frowned at him, but still managed to speak. "My apologies, My Lord, but there was a new arrival today…"

La Muerte immediately knew it needed her immediate attention, so she made her way out of bed, though still behind her husband's wing. "I'll be there in a moment."

"Yes, milady." With that, the servant left the room. As soon as he was gone, Xibalba groaned in dismay.

"Ah, man, and here I wanted to have you and the baby all for myself today."

"It'll be okay, Xibalba, I won't take long." La Muerte assured him, carefully slipping into a red dress for pregnant women, and fixing her hair a bit. "Besides, you have work to do too, don't you?"

Although hesitant, Xibalba sighed. "New arrivals, as always."

"Don't worry, my love, when we're done you'll have us all for yourself the rest of the day, okay?" La Muerte fidgeted with Xibalba's moustache, as always making him blush and melt into her hands.

"Oh, well, it's been a while since I saw Emilio and the others. Maybe it wouldn't do bad…"

After the both of them were dressed, the two gods shared a quick but tender kiss, before Xibalba teleported away in a swirl of dark feathers and tar. After he left, La Muerte placed her huge _sombrero_ on top of her head, and made her way out of her chambers towards the throne room, where she always received all the newcomer souls with open arms. In her state it was not recommendable to teleport, so she had to walk all the way down, but she did not mind.

Once she arrived, she was immediately greeted cheerfully by her subjects, and received compliments on her pregnant belly, which she received with a thankful smile and a few words. The newly comer was just in front of her throne, looking like she had been crying her eyes out for hours, or even days. She had beautiful dark brown hair that reached down her shoulders, and looked like a skeleton, just like everyone else; judging by her clothing, maybe she was from one of the less developed, more traditional towns. She was about seventeen years old. La Muerte's compassion flourished, and she approached the young woman with a warm, welcoming smile. "Welcome to the Land of the Remembered. What is your name?"

The young one had been staring at the goddess's pregnant belly, but quickly caught on to the question. "P-Perla Castañon, milady…"

"You look sad. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, milady, it's just…"

La Muerte kneeled down with a bit of difficulty due to her baby bump and placed a hand on Perla's shoulder. "You can tell me, _linda_. Maybe I can better help you if you tell me what's wrong."

"Well…" Although she hesitated, Perla eventually complied. "I… I was pregnant before I died."

La Muerte felt her heart break at that, unfortunately sometimes she received women whose pregnancy didn't reach its end, whose children didn't get to breathe for the first time. It made her feel terrible that not all children could be born, but alas, what could she do about it? "I'm terribly sorry, _linda_. Did you die in miscarriage?"

Perla stiffened, and tears gathered in her eyes. "It wasn't a m-miscarriage, milady…"

"Oh?"

"See, my g-grandfather owned half the town, we were the most respected family, b-but… I fell in l-love with a painter… My grandfather and my brother didn't approve… I gave myself to him, and I got p-pregnant… But when they found out…" by then Perla had broken down in tears. "My brother killed the love of my life… and my grandfather… he took me to the doctor…" she took her hands to her face in anguish. "I didn't want to do it! He forced me! T-Then everything hurt, I bled more than I should have…"

"Perla, what happened to your baby?"

"I managed to see him… he was such a t-tiny thing… my grandfather forced me to abort!"

Abort? La Muerte was unfamiliar with that word, and with the process altogether. What did it mean? However, now was not the moment to inquire about it, she had a duty to fulfill. Just then, the doors opened and a nineteen year-old young man with blonde hair, green eyes walked in. When Perla's eyes met his, they moistened up with tears once again, but with tears of joy. "Pablo!"

"Perla!" the young man cried out his beloved's name, and immediately they rushed towards each other, embracing tightly and kissing. "Perla, you are here!"

"Oh, Pablo, I missed you so much!" Perla was weeping tears of joy.

"Me too, my love, but we shall never be apart again! Come, we'll start over again!"

La Muerte watched fondly as the reunited lovers went away to enjoy the pleasures of the Land of the Remembered. However, her mind drifted back to the word 'abort', she had no idea of what it meant, but judging by Perla's reaction it couldn't be anything good, and for some reason she had the feelings it was something harmful to babies. Maybe she should ask one of her subjects about it.

"My lady." Carmen and Anita Sánchez approached her, Carmen pushing her mother-in-law forward.

La Muerte smiled at them. "Greetins, Carmen. Greetings, Anita."

"How's the baby doing?" Carmen inquired with a small smile.

"She's doing just okay, just napping." The goddess looked down at her bump as she stroked it tenderly. "I just can't wait to feel her little kicks."

"How has your husband been treating you?" this time it was Anita who spoke, gazing up at her Queen with eyes full of respect and affection.

"Oh, you know, he's been fussing over me ever since we learned I was pregnant." La Muerte remembered she had a doubt that she needed to clear. "By the way… Do you know about the word abort?"

Immediately, the smiles on the spirits' faces left, and were replaced by looks of dread and hesitance. "Why do you ask, milady?"

Definitely, it was something bad. "That young woman who just came here said her grandfather forced her to abort, but I do not know what it means. Could you tell me what aborting is?"

Carmen and Anita exchanged sad glances, before Carmen decided to speak. "An abortion is the most abominable thing a human being can do. It's when a fetus or embryo is removed from the womb before time to get rid of it."

La Muerte's eyes widened in silent shock and horror; could it be? Could unborn children be killed and discarded just like that? "What?"

"Unfortunately that nefarious practice is becoming more frequent these days, overall in young girls who are not ready to fend for themselves, let alone for a child. The best solution they find is to get rid of their child before it can even be born."

Her eyes were swelling up with tears; La Muerte slowly wrapped her arms around her bump protectively, as if wanting to protect her baby from any harm. She could not believe that there were women so cruel as to end a life before it has even begun, and to think some of these cases it was by their own free will. She couldn't imagine a mother wanting to harm her own child; she would _never_ let _anything_ happen to her baby, her _criaturita_. It was so sad… She loved humans, she loved them with all her heart and thought they were pure, but even she knew there were dark-hearted individuals among them, and that she couldn't change.

But to kill an unborn infant before it had taken his first breath...?

* * *

Luckily, there were not many new arrivals for the rest of the day, and La Muerte could retire to her chambers to wait for her husband to return. As she sat down on one of the chairs outside in her balcony, she gently stroked her baby bump while humming a lullaby for her child. She could not get Carmen's words out of her head, still struggling to believe that there were mothers capable of… aborting. Committing the worst murder of all, the murder of a defenseless, innocent _criaturita_. She was caught by surprise when suddenly a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Who am I?"

La Muerte giggled as she gently grabbed her husband's hands. "Ay, Balby."

Xibalba smiled as he helped his wife stand up so he could sweep her into his arms bridal style, making her cry out in surprise, though soon she surrendered to his tenderness as he kissed her with the same passion as always, she returned it gladly. Once they pulled back, Xibalba was carrying her back inside with a grin. "How was your day, _mi amor_?"

"A little lonely without you, Balby, I'm glad you're back." La Muerte sighed, resting her head against his chest.

"Did our little bundle of joy do anything interesting while I was gone?"

"Not much. Remember she doesn't have much to do in there, Xibalba."

However, the dark god could tell there was something else, his wife had a small twinge of sadness in her. He had this quality ever since they were children, he could tell when something bothered her. "Is something bothering you, my dear?" he inquired, sitting down on the edge of bed while still holding her in his arms

"No, no, everything's fine, _mi vida_." La Muerte lied, though he didn't buy it. "How was _your_ day?"

"Terrible. I received an old man who was regretful and wouldn't stop pestering me."

"I thought all the souls that arrived to your realm were regretful."

"They are, but not as annoying as this one! He didn't stop saying that he had to see his granddaughter, that she died of blood loss during an abortion and he wanted to make up with her no matter how many times I told him that she was not down here. I had to teleport him away from the castle so he would leave me alone, can you believe it?" Xibalba noticed the silent shock on his wife's face. "Muertita?" he grew alarmed hen she started to sob. "La Muerte, what's wrong?"

She could only sob as she buried her face into his chest "I…"

" _Mi amor_ , you can tell me."

La Muerte didn't really want to talk about it, but she knew Xibalba would insist until she spoke. "That man's granddaughter arrived today." She sobbed. "But that man did something terrible to her!"

"Her granddaughter arrived on the same day…? That can't be a mere coincidence, the man died of cardiac arrest. Whatever happened up there must have had something to do with it, but tell me what do you mean. What did he do to his granddaughter?"

"He forced her to abort!"

At the word abort, Xibalba's eyes widened in horror and shock. Unfortunately, she noticed.

"You knew about that word…?"

"I.." Xibalba sighed sadly. "I did, my dear, but I didn't want to worry you, I know how you feel about children, my love." His face hardened. "Had I known what he did I would have sent him straight to the Land of the Cursed!"

"How could he… how can…?" La Muerte had broken down in tears now, burying her face into Xibalba's neck. "How can there be mothers who kill their own children before they have even been born…?! Those poor little babes don't deserve it!"

The dark god wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her closer, kissing her head. "Shhh, it's okay, Muertita."

"Ay, Balby… What if something happens to my baby…? I wouldn't bear it…!"

"No, don't say that, mi corazón. Our babe will be okay, she will be the most beautiful creature in the whole universe. And we're going to love her very much." He lifted La Muerte's chin gently with his fingers and brushed some of her tears away with his thumb, smiling. "She'll have the most wonderful mami ever."

Despite her glossy eyes and sorrowful look, La Muerte smiled at him and lay her head against his chest, placing her hand on her belly as she and Xibalba shared a tender kiss. Suddenly she gasped in surprise when she felt something in her stomach; a light tapping movement against her belly, just where she had placed her hand.

"Is something wrong, my dear?"

La Muerte looked down at her baby bump as she rubbed it tenderly, and an excited smile played across her lips when she felt more tapping sensations. "The baby's kicking!"

At the words baby and kicking, Xibalba grew excited and quickly placed his hand on his beloved's abdomen, his heart leapt in joy when he felt his unborn baby's kicks for the first time ever. "You're right, _mi amor_!"

Her eyes were swelling up with tears once more, but this time these were tears of joy. It was as if her baby had reassured her that she was happy and growing, and that she was eager to met her too. " _Mi criaturita_ …" Sadly, soon the little one got bored and went to do something else, but the goddess never removed her hands from her bump, not even when Xibalba peppered her cheek with kisses and held her closer, whispering his happiness and excitement to her.

She may not be able to prevent the humans from committing that horrible crime, but as long as she lived she would never bring harm upon her child.


End file.
